There's something weird about a video of a man holding a focus group among children. It might make sense for some things — under some circumstances, it could be quite funny. This wasn't one of them.
But what we have here is hardly that. This video, which features a man asking children why Real Salt Lake is "creepy." The answer? "They look weird." And, of course, the man shows the children a photograph of Kyle Beckerman, who the kids instantly dislike because he, too, looks weird, what with his dreadlocks and all. One kid declares that he'd like to punch Beckerman in the face, which the man eggs on. I mean, it's harmless, really — no kids are going to have their delicate minds impressed by this, largely because I doubt any will see it. But there are some problematic points to this.
1. It screams "amateur" — the whole concept is half-baked at best. Sum it up to an advertising specialist and you're liable to end up with coffee spit in your face. Let's sum it up: A man asks children why Real Salt Lake is creepy. Because, you know, there's not a hint of creepiness about a man holding a focus group with children too old to be in preschool. The focus on the utterly superficial elements to the rivalry must sit well with their supporters, right?
2. The weird Kyle Beckerman hate seems to ignore a) the fact that Beckerman was a valued member of their squad for five and a half years before, yes, he was traded to Real Salt Lake in a terribly lopsided trade for Mehdi Ballouchy. He described his reaction at the time as shock. This just seems a bit bitter that Beckerman — who didn't want to be and didn't ask to be traded — has become the subject of this sort of video.
3. It's a desperate grasp at relevancy for a club that has conceded the Rocky Mountain Cup for six consecutive years. Real Salt Lake put together a nice little video with a response. When there's less of a rivalry on the pitch, maybe that's when these MLS-for-pedestrians videos are dreamed up.
Still — it could be worse. It could be... this.